The 2014 election ends tomorrow. Have you turned in your ballot? It must be postmarked by tomorrow or turned in to a ballot drop-off location by 8 p.m. for it to count in this important election. Tomorrow's vote will determine control of Olympia going into one of the most important budget years in recent memory. With control of the Senate at play, state Democrats are targeting one of their own, Sen. Tim Sheldon, D-Potlach. The Seattle Times quoted AWB President Kris Johnson explaining AWB's support for Sheldon and other members of the Senate Majority Coalition Caucus for their bipartisan budgeting that set aside an extra $1 billion for K-12 education and froze college tuition.

Which candidates are giving serious consideration to how Olympia actions affect businesses? AWB has interviewed dozens of candidates and tracked thousands of votes to compile our 2014 election endorsements.

Along with The Seattle Times, Everett Herald and newspaper editorial boards across the state, AWB also has serious concerns about the impact of Initiative 1351. This innocuous-sounding class size initiative would add billions of dollars of mandatory spending in a year when the Legislature already faces major costs to expand funding for education and care for the mentally ill. Initiative 1351 mandates billions more in state spending without identifying how to pay for it. The costs would also trickle down to local school districts, saddling many local districts with "mammoth" new construction costs

Some might wonder why there is such a fuss about Tom Steyer, the San Francisco hedge-fund billionaire who has spent $1.4 million this election season in an attempt to change control of the Washington state Senate. This isn't the first time we’ve seen out-of-state interests spending heavily to influence the outcome of elections in this state.

But what's at stake is more than just an election. Steyer's spending calls attention to a thorough political effort to promote climate-change policies in this state, which, if not implemented wisely, have the potential to wreak havoc on the Washington economy.

These policies could have a devastating impact on every citizen of Washington, in the form of higher fuel prices, higher electricity rates, job loss and other effects..